/// Blog Archive

24 Aug / 2010

Ben, a regular annual visitor at Two Fish for the past six years, spent another four weeks with us recently with his lovely wife, Amandene and children Loyanne and Kenno. Ben is an experienced diver who regularly dives in Switzerland in much colder conditions requiring a dry suit. The near perfect conditions here in Bunaken meant he was just in shorts and rash vest the entire time!

While Ben spent most of his time diving and searching out subjects to photograph (one of which was the elusive Marbled Shrimp!) Amadene and Loyanne joined him for a a number of dives too. Unfortunately Kenno is only nine years old so is unable to dive just yet but his Dad is thinking of bringing him back in December to complete his Open Water course! However, this didn’t deter him from joining everyone on the boat every day to snorkel and enjoy the beautiful Bunaken weather and water conditions.

In addition to the fun dives Ben spent some time with Brendon, our Course Director, doing some technical diving down to 50m. This required a bit of extra planning and logistics but it meant Brendon was in his element with two tanks on his back and a technical diving buddy.

With Ben having spent so much time at Two Fish he has come to know all the staff over the years and threw an impressive party for everyone the day before returning home. There was an abundance of food, drinks and an entire roasted pig for everyone to enjoy. Thanks Ben for your hospitality, we hope to see you again soon.

A selection of Ben’s best photos can be seen attached. He has only just got his G10 but is already getting some great shots.

15 Jul / 2010

This month we had a lovely visit from Julianne Reynolds, and during her stay she celebrated her 100th dive with her EFR Course, Rescue course, and her Digital Underwater Photography Specialty.

It was tough work for her, simulating rescue scenarios, knowing how to attend to wounded divers and respond to emergency situations, including learning all the different settings with the camera, but she left her holiday an Emergency First Responder, a Rescue Diver, and an absolutely amazing Underwater Photographer. We were all blown away by how beautiful her photos were, and how precise her settings were for someone who has never taken photos underwater before. We have here some of Juliannes favorite photos which she took during her course.

The first photo starring Julianne herself on her 100th dive, a Decorator Crab who love to play dress up, a Durban Hinge-beak Shrimp, a False Clown Anemonefish, a Halimeda Ghost Pipefish, a bubble coral shrimp trying to be invisible away from his usual habitat, and a Leaf Scorpionfish. Including a beautiful Mandarinfish who are our best performers during our ‘dive at dusk’ trips, the Moorish Idols, a favorite of Juliannes as she never noticed how cute their faces were, a Nudibranch, a favorite to everyone, the Ornate Ghost Pipefish, one of our biggest celebrities at the moment, the Pontohi Seahorse, who lives at ‘Tanjung’ dive site, a big Red Crab on a night mission, a Ribbon Eel taking a peek around, who are known to be as long as 65-85cm, and last but not least, Juliannes postcard picture, the Skunk Anemonefish.

14 Jul / 2010

A big congratulations to Sachiyo and Shinsuke Kawamoto on becoming Open Water divers!

Originally from Japan, Sachiyo and Shinsuke are currently living in Manado, and decided to head over to the walls of Bunaken for their first underwater experience. It was a pleasure having them stay with us, and we are very lucky they live so close, as it’s always nice to see friendly and familiar faces with such a passion for diving.

As well as seeing many turtles and lots of beautiful aquatic life, they were also lucky to see a White Tip Reef Shark swimming deeper below us on the wall. We look forwards to seeing you again for some continuing education with your Advanced Open Water, to go deeper and see some more sharks, to explore at night, and much more.

Here are a couple of photos of Sachiyo and Shinsuke with the Two Fish Divers Instructor team, and also a photo with them and their instructor Ella.

Thank you guys and come back soon!

30 Jun / 2010

Lisa Scott, from the United States, came back for her second visit with Two Fish Divers. During her stay in Bunaken, with many dives on our amazing walls and with a camera in tow, Lisa captured some beautiful photos of typical days diving. We were very lucky to receive five of her favourite photos to share with everyone, including critters and larger sea life common to Bunaken, which are always loved by every diver.

Starring first is a favourite to all, the Green Turtle, a friendly chap who likes to hang around at one of our dive sites, Lekuan 1. A sweet little Bubble Coral Shrimp trying to hide, a beautiful Nudibranch from the Chromodorididae Family, an elegant Whitemouth Moray Eel, and a colourful Smashing Mantis Shrimp, who are known to have a quick and fierce strike to catch their prey, and also to use as a defense weapon.

Thank you very much Lisa for your great photos, and come back to see us soon!

12 Jun / 2010

Congratulations to Tanya for completing her Digital Underwater Photography Specialty.

Tanya’s first time ever taking photos under water, and what amazing results! Proving it’s not as hard as people think, her best photos were actually taken with white balance, rather than point and shoot.

A few our her favourite photos shown here include a fun reverse picture of herself, taken by herself, an orangutan crab who will always be known as King Louis, a hiding Blue-Spotted Ribbontail Ray, a beautiful macro shot of hard coral, a sleek Chromodoris Willani Nudibranch, and last but certainly not least, the cheeky looking Orange Anemonefish.

Have fun with your new camera Tanya and enjoy taking many more amazing shots.